My journey in life is to seek the Heart beat of the One who created me.

Healing and prayer room M-Sa 10-12 Pst

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Praising Him in the strongholds of our lives

The other day while working out, a friend and I were talking the plateaus we were in. We both were doing a phase in our Curves eating plan which was to increase our caloric intake for a couple of days until we reached three pounds over the area we had plateaued, and then go on a lower level phase to lose the three pounds and see if we loose more wieght. We continue this until the plateaued wieght decreases. We also increased our workouts to an extra 30 minutes a day at the gym and I've been walking more to break the plateau.

A few weeks ago when we had started talking about our plateaus, I was reminded of Shabach, the hebrew word for praise that is used when times seem dark and lonely and we are struggling to get through our strongholds. I shared with my friend that it was the same as being in a plateau. We have to increase the praises to go deeper. We are praising Him because we know He will bring us through and we know there is an outcome to our circum-stances.

Its also the level of praise that brings more intimacy with God. Like a marriage, the tough times will either make your or break you depending on how you handle them. Its the same as in a relationship with God. If we just sit back and wallow in our sorrow and keep up with the "poor me" attitude we really aren't gaining any ground in solving our problems.

We need to read His word and be at His feet daily to grow closer to Him and during the times of our hardest we need to be there more, praising Him for the work He is doing. Being in His word we see His charactor more clearly and see that He is a loving God and that He has great plans for us. Jeremiah 29:11 is a good verse for that. Also He has promised us He will never leave us nor forsake us in Heb 13:5.

So when you feel like you are really at the end of your rope, start praising Him. See what He will bring for you to comfort you and help you to hang on until this trial passes.

If you don't know about what I am talking about, wouldn't you like to?

Jesus God's Son has given up His life for you. We just recently celebrated that event this past weekend. He went through the area of impass that your are facing so you would not go it alone. He wants you to trust Him with your life. John 3:16 says that God so loved the World that He gave His only begotton Son so that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life."

He doesn't want you to perish. We were born into sin and God can't have sin in heaven and the only way He could have a relationship with us was to allow His Son to die on the cross for us and take our punishment on himself. Romans 6:23 states that "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God".

Nothing we can do on our own can gain us access to heaven. All God asks is that we confess our sins and accept Jesus as our Savior and let Him guide us in the decisions of our lives.

God loves all of His creation. Most of all you and me. Let Him show you how much.